Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.

Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!

I look forward to the day when these redundant brick and mortar software repositories fueled by pain and deception become a forgotten relic. Their vile swindling masters laid low to fester in the gutters like the sewer rats they are.

Also the day when horse fucking is made legal. Those supple gluteal muscles that beg to be groped and the pressure they undoubtedly give to the beast's smooth crevices of.....

Unfortunately there's a lot of places where fast internet isn't available which will keep the B&Ms relevant. I could see the next generation of consoles not shipping with optical discs but they'd need a way to not lock out a big chunk of customers. Maybe optional external blu ray drive. Maybe kiosks set up in stores that can load a game or two onto a memory stick.

Unfortunately I disagree with this one. I am one who pre-ordered Diablo 3 from Gamestop and will be there eager to accept it at 12:01 am on the 15th. Call me old fashioned, but I want to own the box of this game. I didn't spring for the Collector's Edition, but I like to own every Blizzard game in physical form.

Unfortunately I disagree with this one. I am one who pre-ordered Diablo 3 from Gamestop and will be there eager to accept it at 12:01 am on the 15th. Call me old fashioned, but I want to own the box of this game. I didn't spring for the Collector's Edition, but I like to own every Blizzard game in physical form.

Unfortunately I disagree with this one. I am one who pre-ordered Diablo 3 from Gamestop and will be there eager to accept it at 12:01 am on the 15th. Call me old fashioned, but I want to own the box of this game. I didn't spring for the Collector's Edition, but I like to own every Blizzard game in physical form.

Unfortunately I disagree with this one. I am one who pre-ordered Diablo 3 from Gamestop and will be there eager to accept it at 12:01 am on the 15th. Call me old fashioned, but I want to own the box of this game. I didn't spring for the Collector's Edition, but I like to own every Blizzard game in physical form.

I think that's exactly what the horse analogy is doing.

You horse-lover.

Slap me into that Horse Lovin' group of hippies. For I too have pre-purchased a CE.

boxes take up space that I don't really have available. digital libraries are the best.

I guess I'll toss my self into the horse lovin' Luddite collective. I like having a box and the stuff that's packed into the box. I didn't get the CE, but I'm still picking up the boxed version.

Seeing a stack of boxes for games that I own is a constant reminder that I have games that I can play, and maybe I'd be better off spending that 60 dollars on something more productive. Having a hard drive stuffed full of downloaded games just doesn't have that same effect.

Kind of the same way I feel about my bookshelves vs. my Kindle. I know the kindle is better in nearly every way, it's smaller and lighter then a hard cover book, it can hold hundreds of books in the space of a single paper back. But I still love spending an hour wandering through a book store until something catches my eye. And I love having a book collection (at least until it's time to move...).

Although for some weird reason I vastly prefer physical books to reading on my phone.

I tried reading on the iPhone, too, and it was just terrible. I, however, would not give up my kindle for anything. I think it's the screen size coupled with the fact that the kindle isn't back-lit. So I'd suggest trying out a kindle if you ever get a chance. You might like it.

The comic isn't saying "boxes are stupid," it's saying "if you want a box that's fine but don't make people who download the game wait around for you." And boxes are bad for the environment. Save a tree: download your game!

This sorta reminds me about the Portal 2 promotion to "make the game come out earlier on steam" which only surmounted to it being released maybe 5 hours early, and yet resulted in brick and mortar stores immediately slashing the price of the hard copy by like 20 bucks. Now of course, console editions were involved and the game didn't require an always on internet connection, but I presume the situation might still be similar. The adoption of DD for PC seems much larger, but maybe we're still not at the point where we can shun synchronized releases yet.

Also, you'd think gabe would have been done with fucking horses after the stable situation.

<obscurePApodcastref> No human being should be exposed to language like this.</obscurePApodcastref>

While I haven't actually done it in ages, I totally recognize the power of getting your hands on a box copy of a pined-for game at midnight. I wonder if allowing digital purchasers to download sooner would effect a serious blow to that practice? It certainly wouldn't be the same if only like a dozen guys showed up.

Although for some weird reason I vastly prefer physical books to reading on my phone.

I tried reading on the iPhone, too, and it was just terrible. I, however, would not give up my kindle for anything. I think it's the screen size coupled with the fact that the kindle isn't back-lit. So I'd suggest trying out a kindle if you ever get a chance. You might like it.

E-ink is like manna from heaven. Backlit back country bumpkins will never understand.

OK, let's say we remove physical copies entirely; there's still an argument to be made about having a set "release date" for a game while letting people download the game in advance but not play it.

If the day it was playable was the same day as it was available for download, the download servers would likely be overloaded as people rushed to download it and play it as fast as possible. Allowing people to download it in advance of the launch date dilutes the demand on the download server over a longer period of time, and people get to play it immediately at launch, instead of having to wait for the download after launch.

So even if physical releases disappear completely, the practice of having a game on your harddrive that you can't play yet may to occur.

This sorta reminds me about the Portal 2 promotion to "make the game come out earlier on steam" which only surmounted to it being released maybe 5 hours early, and yet resulted in brick and mortar stores immediately slashing the price of the hard copy by like 20 bucks.

I don't get it; was the discounted price supposed to punish Valve? Because the way retail media sales typically work, Valve gets the same amount no matter what the retailer prices it at, and the retailer would have to eat any cost if they price the product below wholesale

I won't step foot in a brick-and-mortar moneytrap unless it involves a collectors edition that I want and can't acquire any other way. Hell, I even do most of my console shopping online where I can get better deals, and even when I think about it, the last 5 games I got on my PS3 involved the digital store.
Fuck horses, indeed. Ponies are much more deserving of our praise.

The nice thing about retail games is that the boxed version usually drops in price before the digital download, so cheapskates like me can play sooner. They gotta clear up shelf space for new boxes about to be released!

I actually bought SC2 boxed on release day and ended up regretting it. Normally I would love going through all the stuff in the box... but in this case the box was practically empty. There was the install DVD, a coupon for a free month of WoW, and an SC2-branded notepad. Not even a colorful instruction booklet to leaf through

Ok, I just created a forum account so I could post this. I was reading the last panel and I really did think that Tycho was grabbing his jacket to go stand in line at the midnight release. But I forward this comic to a friend and the first thing he said was NSFW, beastiality. I was like, what? but then I read the comic again. If Gabe says "Fuck horses" and the first thing Tycho answers back is "Amen brother. Let me get my jacket.", I can see where the beastiality thing comes into play. Good times.